The invention relates to a branch circuit structure for use in forming branch circuits mainly in the wire harness of motor vehicles.
In FIG. 1, inside a female connector housing a are secured joint terminals b, b' secured, each joint terminal connecting a plurality of tab-like contacts b.sub.1 thereto. Inside a male connector housing c is a terminal receiving slot c.sub.1 disposed so as to confront each tab-like contact b.sub.1 with a female terminal piece d attached thereto, the metal piece d being connected to an electric wire w in advance. Under this construction, a branch circuit is formed from one electric wire to another when the male and female connector housings a, c are coupled to each other through the joint terminal b and the female terminal piece d.
In the aforesaid conventional art, it is difficult to confirm in wire harness fabrication lines that the joint terminals and the female terminal pieces are completely connected.
Further, with the aforesaid conventional art, the coercive force of the terminals within the female and male connector housings cannot be maintained.
Furthermore, to make the wire harness waterproof under the aforesaid conventional art, the male connector housing must be provided with both waterproof packing and waterproof plugs. Since the plurality of joint terminals b, b' are arranged inside a common chamber of the female connector housing a, there is a likelihood that any unused empty circuit will provide the source of leakage.